“Gun free” zones: an invitation to mass murder
By Zach Lautenschlager
Communications Director
Overview:
Should a person have less freedom and safety than anyone else simply because he
goes to college?
If an adult is responsible enough to cast a vote, fight a war, own a gun, carry
a gun and exercise every other right of citizenship, then why should he be
disarmed and defenseless at institutions of higher learning?
The answer to these questions is clear. Adults on college campuses should be
able to exercise the same right to self-defense that every other adult citizen
enjoys.
A brief review of the tragic mass shootings committed in the last year clearly
demonstrates the danger of so-called “gun free” zones.
In February of 2007 an armed killer walked past “gun free” zone signs on the
door of the Trolley Square Mall in Utah and shot 9 innocent people.
In April, a student at Virginia Tech named Seung-Hui Cho shot 49 people in two
separate incidents. Thanks to the university’s “gun free” policy, the Virginia
Tech Massacre became the deadliest shooting in American history.
In December, yet another armed killer walked into the “gun free” Westroads Mall
in Omaha, Nebraska and shot 13 people. One witness says he would have been
carrying a handgun that day if it had been legal, and could have ended the
shooting after the first shot.
Just four days later, another heavily armed killer attacked the New Life Church
in Colorado, intent on killing as many people as possible. But he picked the
wrong place.
Because New Life Church is not a “gun free” zone, armed citizen Jeanne Assam was
able to use her own handgun to stop the shooting. Authorities state that it
could have been far worse than Virginia Tech if Assam had not been armed.
This is not the first time an armed citizen has stopped a mass shooting. In
2002, several students at the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia used their
own handguns to subdue an armed killer as he shot faculty and students. In 1997,
Joel Myrick used his handgun to stop a school shooting in Pearl, Mississippi,
saving the lives of perhaps dozens of children.
In contrast, every mass shooting of any significant size in recent history has
been committed in a “gun free” zone, where the law-abiding citizens were
disarmed. In every case, the killer was the only one with a gun, and he had
ample time to commit his atrocity before the police could arrive.
“Gun free” zones are just plain dangerous. Statistically, they actually
contribute to the terrible mass shooting phenomenon.
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April 16th, 2007 began like any other Monday morning for Emily Hilscher. At around 7:00 a.m., she was in her dorm room preparing for class and chatting with Ryan Clark from the next room over.
But neither Emily nor Ryan would ever walk out of their dorm again.
At approximately 7:15, fellow student Seung-Hui Cho slipped into the Ambler Johnston dormitory, walked into Hilscher’s room and opened fire with perhaps two handguns. Hilscher was mortally wounded, Clark was killed instantly. Cho quietly left the building and returned to his own dormitory to reload.
Two hours later, between 9:05 and 9:15 a.m., Cho walked across the campus center to Norris Hall, a large classroom building. In his backpack he carried several chains and locks, nineteen magazines for his handguns and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition.
Cho entered Norris Hall, chained all the entry doors shut from the inside and began walking from classroom to classroom, shooting faculty and students alike.
Police arrived at the scene 3 minutes after the first shots were fired, and within another 5 minutes had gained entrance into the barricaded building. As they entered, Cho ended his rampage and shot himself. In just 8 minutes he had killed 30 people and wounded 17 more, making the Virginia Tech Massacre the deadliest shooting in American history.
“Gun free” zones will help you “feel safe”
Investigation would later reveal that Seung-Hui Cho had spent months planning and preparing for an extended shooting spree. He found deadly success in executing his plan for one simple reason: Virginia Tech has a self-imposed gun ban.
According to university policy, no one except law-enforcement is allowed to possess a firearm for self-defense. The entire several-thousand acre campus is declared one big “gun free” zone.
But Seung-Hui Cho apparently forgot to read the rules. He began keeping handguns on campus more than two months before the shooting. When the fateful day arrived, it seems that the only armed person on campus was the deranged Cho.
Tragically, the Virginia Tech leadership had helped kill legislation that might have prevented the massacre. In January of 2006, little more than a year before the shooting, the Virginia General Assembly considered a bill to allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed on campus for self-defense. But it was defeated, thanks in part to strong opposition from the university.
When the bill died, Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker stated, "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."
Signs don’t stop criminals
If you visit the sprawling Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, you’ll be greeted by conspicuous signs at every entrance.
“NO WEAPONS ALLOWED,” they state.
Janet Jorgensen had worked at the Von Maur store in the mall ever since it opened, and probably didn’t even think about the sign on the door as she went to work on December 5th, 2007. At age 67, Janet had just celebrated fifty years of marriage and was helping to plan her granddaughter’s wedding. She was deeply loved by her entire community.
But Janet will never attend her granddaughter’s wedding. Her life ended in a few moments of terror, along with the lives of seven other innocent people. All because one troubled young man was the only armed person in Von Maur on the afternoon of December 5th. The signs on the doors of the Westroads Mall proclaim the entire building to be a “gun free” zone. Anyone who brings a gun into the building could spend three months in jail and pay a $300 fine.
But that didn’t stop Robert Hawkins.
On the morning of December 5th, Hawkins penned a suicide note, promising family and friends “now I’ll be famous.” At about 1:40 in the afternoon Hawkins entered Von Maur with something wrapped in his sweatshirt. Ascending an elevator to the third floor, he pulled out a stolen semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on customers and employees. In six minutes he killed eight victims, including Jorgensen, and left five wounded. Then he shot himself. By the time police arrived, it was too late to do anything but remove the bodies.
One man who witnessed the shooting says he would have been carrying a handgun for self-defense that day had it not been for the Mall’s “gun free” policy. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the witness states that he was less than 30 yards away when Hawkins started shooting and that he had a clear view of the shooter. If he had been armed, this witness could have ended the shooting then and there. But all he could do was look on in horror, then turn and run for his life.
Less guns equal more crime
Respected gun rights author and researcher Dr. John Lott has observed that every multiple-victim public shooting of any significant size in the United States has been committed in a so-called “gun free” zone.
In 1984, James Oliver Huberty shot 40 people, killing 21 in a McDonalds restaurant in San Diego, California. George Jo Hennard shot and killed 23 people and wounded 20 more in a Luby's Cafeteria in Texas in 1991. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 and wounded 23 at the Columbine Highschool in 1999.
Of course, mass shootings are hardly limited to the U.S. In 1996, Martin Bryant killed 35 and wounded 37 in Port Arthur, Australia. Friedrich Leibacher killed 14 in 2001 in Zug, Switzerland. Robert Steinhäuser shot 23 people in Erfurt, Germany, in 2002.
And the list of “gun free” zone shootings continues to grow. In February of 2007, 9 people were shot by Sulejman Talović at the Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. Seung-Hui Cho shot 49 at Virginia Tech in April, and 13 more were shot at the Westroads Mall just last month.
All of these incidents share a common factor: citizens were banned from having guns in the areas where they took place. Each and every one of them happened in a so-called “gun free” zone.
“What she did was shoot back”
This year saw yet another public shooting besides the ones at Trolley Square Mall, Virginia Tech and Westroads Mall.
But this one didn’t end with dozens of dead and wounded in a “gun free” zone.
It was about 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 9th, 2007. Services had just come to a close at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when a black-clad stranger drove into the parking lot. He calmly got out of his car, pulled a rifle from the trunk and started shooting at people exiting the building.
The gunman, later identified as Matthew Murray, had opened fire on 4 people at a missions campus in Arvada, Colorado 12 hours earlier. Murray had fled the Arvada campus on foot, evading police. Now he planned to continue his rampage by attacking the largest church in the state.
Heavily armed with a rifle, two handguns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, Murray began shooting into vehicles as he walked toward the church. Two people were killed and two wounded before he entered the building.
Moving inside, Murray continued shooting, wounding another man and firing dozens of rounds. But then he encountered Jeanne Assam, an armed church member who had a concealed pistol permit and was acting as a volunteer security guard.
Assam had taken cover when Murray entered the building. As he walked past her position, still firing, Assam drew her handgun and engaged him.
She advanced on the killer and ordered him to drop his gun. When he opened fire on her, she returned fire and took him down, abruptly ending the violence.
Jeanne Assam is a South Dakota native. She graduated from Brandon Valley High School and worked for the Minneapolis police department for a few years before moving to Colorado in 2000. She currently works full-time for Messenger International, a missions organization in Colorado Springs.
Assam still has family and friends in South Dakota, many of whom have hailed her as a hero. Jim Feldhaus of Canistota was a friend of Assam's parents in high school.
“We're getting kind of tired of people shooting us like rats in a barrel,” Feldhaus said. "What she did was shoot back.”
Police and church leaders are also crediting Assam with stopping what could have become a massacre far worse than Virginia Tech.
“If we did not have an armed person on our campus, 50 to 100 people could have lost their lives,” said New Life Pastor Brady Boyd.
The armed citizen: an antidote to mass murder
There are striking similarities between the Colorado shootings and the Virginia Tech Massacre. Both incidents were premeditated and carried out by well-armed killers who intended to shoot as many people as possible. Both incidents began with apparently isolated smaller shootings, then moved to a larger setting where more people were at risk. And in both incidents, the killers had enough time to shoot a large number of people before the police arrived.
But there is one very striking difference.
Citizens were not allowed to defend themselves at Virginia Tech. Thirty-two people died.
Citizens are allowed by law to carry a handgun for self-defense at churches in Colorado. As a result, only two people were killed.
It is a terrible tragedy that even two innocent people had to die. But there are dozens of people alive today in Colorado, thanks to an armed citizen who was acting as a security guard.
This is not the first time armed citizens have stopped a shooting spree in progress. In 1997, Joel Myrick broke school “gun free” zone laws and used his own handgun to stop a high-school shooting in Pearl, Mississippi. The killer, Luke Woodham, had planned to continue the destruction at the local middle school.
In 2002, several students at the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia violated school policy and used their own handguns to subdue Peter Odighizuwa as he shot faculty and students. And there are many more cases where armed citizens have used their own firearms to stop what could have become multiple victim shootings.
Why SDGO opposes “gun free” zones
It is a sad fact of modern life that higher numbers of people are resorting to senseless murder. Unfortunately, a society that has lost its moral compass is bound to see a rise in violent crime such as mass shootings.
There are answers to this crisis, but gun control is not one of them. No anti-gun restriction can stop a madman bent on a bloody suicide. He simply doesn’t care how illegal his actions may be.
South Dakota Gun Owners supports the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This means that everyone who is not committing a crime should be able to carry a handgun for self-defense if they so desire.
While it will take more than a generally armed populace to stop mass shootings before they begin, the evidence demonstrates that the right to arms is a factor in ending the madness.
Precious few shooting sprees have happened where citizens are armed.